Police Call Cat Killings Suspect A Sociopath

July 7, 2009|By David Ovalle The Miami Herald

MIAMI — In interviews with police, Tyler Weinman eagerly described how to dissect cats, even describing the "tearing sound" made when cutting open a feline's body, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

Miami-Dade police concluded that Weinman fits the profile of a sociopath. Weinman, 18, accused of killing and mutilating 19 cats in south Miami-Dade, was formally charged Monday in Miami-Dade circuit court.

Prosecutors at Monday's arraignment made public a previously secret arrest warrant affidavit detailing the evidence used to arrest Weinman last month.

Among evidence cited in a largely circumstantial case:

Twice during the killing spree, officers found Weinman near where mutilated cats were found. Once, he wore all black and a backpack.

On May 15, when officers stopped him during a nighttime traffic stop, they found a "cutting tool" he apparently threw outside his driver's side window. The tool was impounded; Weinman was arrested for marijuana possession.

During that arrest, Weinman claimed he got prominent scratches on his body from feeding a stray cat.

Police outfitted an electronic tracking device to his car that placed him in the immediate area of one killing on June 6.

He described dissecting cats, which he learned during an anatomy class at Palmetto Senior High.

He's charged with 19 counts of felony animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary. Weinman is free on $249,500 bond and is on house arrest.